This application claims benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-107767 filed on Apr. 5, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by the reference.
The present invention relates to a telephone connection system, a telephone connection method, a home transmission unit and control programs for their system, more particularly to a telephone connection system, a telephone connection method, a home transmission unit and control programs for said system suitable to for connection via an internet network.
Among recent telephone connection systems is, for instance, VoIP (Voice over IP). In VoIP, a converter for conversion between voice and IP signal is installed as a common trunk in a telephone switch station, and in response to dialing of a particular telephone number by a telephone service subscriber, the common trunk is captured for communication via the internet.
The prior art telephone connection system of this type, as shown in FIG. 3, a subscriber telephone set 1, a metallic subscriber line 2, a telephone switch 3, a common trunk 4, a subscriber telephone set 11, a metallic subscriber line 12, a telephone switch 13, a common trunk 14, a common trunk managing unit 20 and an internet NW.
In this telephone connection system, when the calling subscriber off-hooks the subscriber telephone set 1 and dials a particular number, the telephone switch 3 captures the common trunk 4. The common trunk 4 transmits guidance to the calling subscriber such as to input the opposite side data to the calling subscriber. When the calling subscriber has listened to the guidance dials the telephone number corresponding to the subscriber telephone set 11 of the called subscriber. The common trunk 4 makes an inquiry to the common trunk managing unit 20 via the itnernet NW to find out the common trunk 14 accommodating the subscriber telephone set 11. The common trunk managing unit 20 receives the telephone number of the subscriber telephone set 11 from the common trunk 4, and returns the message that the subscriber telephone set 11 is accommodated in the common trunk 14. According to the returned message data, the common trunk 14 starts the telephone switch 13 to ring the subscriber telephone set 11 for called subscriber. When the called subscriber answers the call, the internet telephone service is provided.
FIG. 4 is a schematic showing of a different prior art telephone connection system.
As shown in the Figure, this telephone connection system comprises a subscriber telephone set 31, a subscriber terminal 32, an xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line) home modem 33, a splitter 34, a metallic subscriber line 35, a splitter 36, a telephone switch 37, a subscriber telephone set 41, a subscriber terminal 42, an xDSL home model 43, a splitter 44, a metallic subscriber line 45, a splitter 46, an xDSL station side unit 47, an internet provider 45 and an internet NW.
In this telephone connection system, when the calling subscriber off-hooks the subscriber telephone set 31, the set 31 is connected via the splitter 34, metallic subscriber line 35 and the splitter 36 to the telephone switch 37. When the subscriber then dials the telephone number corresponding to the subscriber telephone set 41, the subscriber telephone set 41 is ringed via the splitter 46, the metallic subscriber line 45 and the splitter 44. When the called subscriber answers the call by off-hooking the subscriber telephone set 41, the telephone connection service is provided.
The subscriber terminal 32 is also connected via the xDSL home modem 33, the splitter 34, the metallic subscriber line 35 and the splitter 36 to the xDSL station side unit 47, and thence connected via the internet NW to the internet provider 48. Likewise, the subscriber terminal 42 is connected via the xDSL home model 43, the splitter 44, the metallic subscriber line 45 and the splitter 46 to the xDSL station side unit 47, and thence connected via the internet NW to the internet provider 48. A shown, the subscriber telephone sets 31 and 41 and the subscriber terminals 32 and 42 are used independently although they use metallic subscriber lines 35 and 45 one each.
However, the above prior art telephone connection system has the following problems. In the telephone connection system shown in FIG. 3, it is difficult to keep the line number of common trunks 4 and 14 that corresponds to the traffic, fees of use of the common trunks 4 and 14 are charged to the subscribers, special dials are added to make the operation cumbersome, and the service area is limited. A further problem in the telephone connection system shown in FIG. 4 is that in case when, for instance, the called subscriber has gone out and cannot off-hook the subscriber telephone set 41, the telephone connection service is not provided.
The present invention has been intended in view of the above background, and it has an object of providing a telephone connection system, a telephone connection method, a home transmission unit and control programs for the system, method and unit, which can provide telephone connection service over a broad zone in response to a simple operation.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telephone connection system comprising a first subscriber telephone set, a home transmission unit, a subscriber line, a telephone switch, a second subscriber telephone set, a fast digital communication line, a fast digital switch unit, an internet, an internet provider and a terminal unit, wherein: when the call of the second subscriber telephone set is received via the telephone switch and the subscriber line to the first subscriber telephone set, the home transmission unit generates a called electronic mail indicative of the call reception, and feeds said mail via the fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch unit and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit, and when a reception request is provided from the terminal unit, the home transmission unit feeds the call via the fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telephone connection system comprising a first subscriber telephone set, a home transmission unit, a subscriber line, a telephone switch, a second subscriber telephone set, a fast digital switch unit, an internet, an internet provider and a terminal unit, wherein: when the call of the second subscriber telephone set is received via the telephone switch and the subscriber line to the first subscriber telephone set, the home transmission unit generates a called electronic mail indicative of the call reception, and feeds said mail via the subscriber line as a fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch unit and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit, and when a reception request is provided from the terminal unit, the home transmission unit feeds the call via the fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit.
The fast digital communication line is an xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line) common to the subscribers.
According to other aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telephone connection method comprising steps of: in response to receipt of a call of a second subscriber telephone set via a telephone switch and a subscriber line to a first subscriber telephone set, generating a called electronic mail indicative of the call reception by a home transmission unit; feeding the mail via a fast digital communication line, a fast digital switch unit and an internet to an internet provider for transmission of data via the internet to an terminal unit; and in response to receipt of a reception request from the terminal unit, feeding the call from via the fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit.
According to still other aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telephone connection method comprising steps of: in response to receipt of a call of a second subscriber telephone set via a telephone switch and a subscriber line to a first subscriber telephone set, generating a called electronic mail indicative of the call reception; feeding the mail via a subscriber line as a fast digital communication line, a fast digital switch unit and an internet to an internet provider for transmission of data via the internet to a terminal unit; and in response to receipt of a reception request from the terminal unit, feeding the call from the home transmission unit via the fast digital communication line, the fast digital switch and the internet to the internet provider for transmission of the data via the internet to the terminal unit.
According to further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a home transmission unit constructed such that when an external call is received via a subscriber line in a subscriber telephone set, it generates a called electronic mail indicative of the call reception and sends out said mail via a fast digital communication line to a predetermined terminal unit and, when a reception request is provided from the terminal unit, it transmits the call via the fast digital communication line.
The fast digital communication line is an xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line) common to the subscribers.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control program for causing a computer to execute the functions of the above telephone connection system and a control program for causing a computer to execute the functions of the above home transmission unit.
According to other aspect of the present invention, there is provided a telephone connection system comprising: in response to receipt of a call from a subscriber telephone set via a telephone switch and a metallic subscriber line in a subscriber terminal, generating from an xDSL home unit an electronic mail indicative of the call reception with a metallic subscriber line used as an xDSL line; feeding the generated electronic mail via the xDSL line, an xDSL station side unit and an internet NW to an internet provider; transmitting the mail via the internet NW to a portable telephone radio base station and a portable telephone set; and in response to provision of a reception request from the portable telephone set, feeding by the xDSL home unit the call from the subscriber telephone set via the xDSL line, an xDSL station side unit and the internet NW to the internet provider for transmission of the call via the internet NW to a portable telephone radio base station and to the portable telephone set.
Other objects and features will be clarified from the following description with reference to attached drawings.